Sensuslumenism
Sensuslumenism is a monotheistic gnostic religion centered around the principles of unity, fairness, respect, knowledge, wisdom, and faith. Its followers refer to the principles as the 'Six Pillars of Understanding'. The religion teaches its followers to respect life and living, be at peace with chance and destiny, and to live with an open mind. Sensuslumenism claims to be an open faith that can be incorporated into many other beliefs and ideas. Core ideas and beliefs Though Sensuslumenism is an open faith, it still has a framework that governs the lives of its followers: *There exsists a single, neutral, omniscent, omnipresent and omnipotent being, at the core of everything, outside of space and time. God, Yaweh, Vishnu, Nun, Chaos - "He" (who is, in thruth, unisexsual as it is also believed that souls and divinities have no genders) has many names - no name is "wrong", as souls and divinities do not posses anything Earthly, including names. However, there may be multiple other "lesser" divines. *Every living thing has a soul, be it "rational" or "animistic". Because of this, all life should be respected and cherished. *On every world carrying complex life, it is believed that an inteligent race, like that of Earth, will evolve to rule over and protect their world. That is also mankind's reason for existing. What better way to praise God than to look after His creation? *One must live with an open mind and not give in to ignorance. By extention, science is most certainly not the enemy of religion - The two must intertwine to form a perfect understanding of the universe and the meaning of existance. *Everyone has a perpouse and a destiny for this reality that cannot be changed or altered, but can be known or discovered. *Individuals must best (at-least attempt to) live by the Six Pillars of Understanding, to the Six Vertues of Light and against the Six Sins of Darkness to fully achieve inner understanding and perhaps even ascend to Paradise after death. *One may believe in any religion, as long as they have faith in it. Only with faith outside the physical realm of the mundane can the universe truly open up to you. Because of this, followers of Senuslumenism should have nothing against members of other faiths and religions. *Belief in any paranormal, supernatural or theoretical possibility should be allowed, even encouraged. There is nothing wrong with believing in what cannot be proven, nor disproved. *Race, gender, age, sexual orientation, language or faith does not matter when one sees the bigger picture - It's the purity of the soul that truly matters in one's life. Racism, sexism or any other form of discrimination goes directly against this. No man, woman or child with earthly soul is greater or lower than any other living or once-living being or creature that exists on the physical plane. *It is believed that all inteligent races in the universe - those evolved to rule over and look after their worlds, in other words - posses "rational" souls. These souls have the ability to make calculated dissisions, affect the lives of others and alter reality as a whole. All other living things have "animistic" souls which forms part of a greater network of life. Though humans, as rational souls, have a concious will that other life does not posses, humans are no higher thn they are, as they too have purposes. *God, or whatever one's faith may call him, does not create, destroy or influence directly through divine acts. The universe is governed by the laws of science. These laws and natural prosseses are used by God to perform his will and create our reality. He decreed the laws. All supposed miracles may thus have scientific explaination, but when the coinsidence is taken into account, the event is no less miraculous. This is how God works. *Most important, one must follow one's morals, values and heart and be one's own unique individual. Too many times have it happend in religions that followers end up worshipping their faith's laws instead of their faith's deities. Something as Earthly as following meaningless rules will not help you in achieving spiritual understanding or perhaps even astral continuity. But one must also live with responsibility and righteousness. Do what you feel is right Religious structure and hierarchy As followers of Sensuslumenism see every mortal soul as equal, one who is "higher" up the hierarchy should never be confused as being better than anyone lower on the hierarchy. Followers are "ranked" by their progress down the "path of enlightenment". This is to say, those who posses most understanding about life, the universe and existence in general (not necessarily gained by following the faith) are ranked higher than those who posses less. The Sensuslumen hierarchy is as followed: * Novi are basically the novices at understanding in the way intended by Sensuslumenism. Followers automatically qualify as a Novi if they are a frequent sinner in the faith's eyes. Being a Novi doesn't neccisarily make them a bad person, though. * Percepto are those who are in the process of "learning" to understand. In the grey between ignorance and understanding, they are considered "neutral" (again, not on a "good/evil" level) and are easiest to teach the faith too, as they already mildly "understand". * Lumen are the enlightened. They are the ones who truly understand. They are the leaders and teachers of the faith. Not above ''the rest, but at the most "spiritually tuned" level of thinking. They are capable of fully seeing the "bigger picture" and act thereby. Three points of understanding The three "Points of Understanding" are seen as the three major aims of the faith: to create understanding of others, understanding of the universe one resides in and of one's spirituality. Interlinked, these three can give one an understanding of themselves and their place and reason for being, completing the path of enlightenment. * 'Social Understanding 'encompasses understanding other individual beings such as one's self. It is achieved through respect (for others) and morality (to do what's right). * 'Physical Understanding' is understanding the universe one reside in - God's creation. It is achieved through unity (between thoughts) and knowledge (of reality). * 'Spiritual Understanding 'means to deeply understand existence and all it is linked to. It is achieved through wisdom (gained from experience) and faith (in one's purpose). Six pillars of understanding The Six Prillars (or Principles) of Understanding are at the heart of Sensuslumenism. A follower of the faith may use the pillars as personal guidelines on their "path to enlightenment", comparing where they stand on each pillar. * 'Respect' for others. * 'Morality 'to do what's right. * 'Unity' between thoughts. * 'Knowlage' of reality. * 'Wisdom' gained from experience. * 'Faith''' in your perpouse. Six virtues of light * Charity and Selflessness * Striving for understand * Kindness and Respect * Acting for Justice * Acting on positive emotion * Helping others on their paths Six sins of Shaddow * Greed and Self-centerdness * Ignorance and Short-Sightedness * Cruelty and Disrespect * Acting for Vengeance * Acting on negative emotion * Moving others from their paths ARK and WRK ARK * Affinity * Reality * Communication WRK * Will * Responcibility * Control Category:Religions Category:Monotheistic religions Category:Gnostic religions